A key accreditation council has moved to end its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) requirements for law school programs after increased pressure from the Trump administration.
On Tuesday, the American Bar Association’s Accreditation Council voted to eliminate diversity requirements that had mandated law schools demonstrate “concrete action” to promote a diverse faculty and student body. According to the New York Times, the accreditor association noted that the move could jeopardize its role overseeing nearly 200 juris doctorate programs.
The council struck down the controversial standard, which has been the focus of federal action, with a 10-6 vote. The standard, suspended in 2025 after President Trump returned to office, had faced scrutiny for several years.
After the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which struck down race-based admissions policies, federal pressure on the ABA intensified. That pressure ultimately led to the demise of the DEI standard, with the help of the Trump administration.
The Equal Protection Project played a major role in the push to reform what it characterized as discriminatory practices within the ABA. In a 2024 letter to ABA Council Chair David Brennan, EPP founder William A. Jacobson criticized the standard, calling for immediate revisions to bring it within the confines of the law.
In the letter, Jacobson noted that any preferences towards “those with identities that historically have been disadvantaged or excluded from the legal profession” must be removed in order to maintain “racial neutrality,” as required by law.
The final blow came when the Trump administration’s Department of Justice issued a letter to the ABA demanding that it remove the DEI standard or face federal action.
While the Accreditation Council has voted to end the DEI standard, the ABA at large has signaled that it intends to continue its work of “enhancing diversity.” In a statement, ABA President Barbara J. Howard noted that the Accreditation Council operates independently of the ABA and that its vote on September 8 does not have a direct impact on the organization.
“The simple answer is that the Accreditation Council and the ABA at large operate independently of each other, with neither having direct authority over the other,” said Howard.
“Under federal requirements designed to ensure autonomy, all accrediting agencies — including the Accreditation Council — must operate independently…But there is no ambiguity as to where the ABA stands on eliminating bias and enhancing diversity.”
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